Minutes, 5 April 2018
MARSTON PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES of the Parish Council meeting held on 5th April 2018 at 7.30 pm in Marston & Hougham Village Hall.
Present: Cllr P Cartwright (Chairman), Cllrs, R Morley, S Brown, V. Morrell, J. Hare and A. Watson
and Dist Cllr Paul Wood
18/19-1: Chairman’s remarks/public forum: there were no members of the public present. Chair welcomed all present.
18/19-2: Apologies – Cllr Jones and Cty Cllr Maughan.
18/19-3: Declarations of Pecuniary Interest - there were none.
18/19-4: Minutes of the last meeting – Minutes of the meeting held on 1st February were read, accepted as a true and accurate record, and signed by the Chairman.
18/19-5: Action items from the previous meeting:
[a] Emergency Plan –there had been some minor alterations to the Plan due to Hougham joining in with Marston. Village stewards are to be finalised. A list of jobs will be drawn up by Cllr Watson. The Plan is nearly ready to go to LCC.
[b] Village sign – unanimously agreed we will not have a plinth and therefore the post will go into a steel base socket. Clerk to advise Village Sign People.
[c] Kerrs Crescent – Cllr Watson had provided details on suppliers of new benches. However, it was agreed by all that the existing bench should be repaired and a new bench would only be ordered if the repairs were unsuccessful. Cllr Brown will carry out the repairs.
[d] Lyn Wesson had produced a report for March. As strimming has not been possible through the winter months, most of her work has been litter picking and collecting up dog faeces. The grass does need strimming round the village green posts.
[e] The lorries turning around in the village have significantly decreased recently and it was agreed to leave any further action on this matter, to the next meeting.
[f] Cllr Maughan had provided information on putting steps down to the canal. Cllr Jones to arrange for a plan to be drawn up for submission to Highways and the Environment Agency.
[g] The blue pipe on Toll Bar Road has been cut down to ground level by Anglian Water.
[h] A tree survey along Toll Bar Road has been listed for action but as there are only 2 Tree Officers this will not be a speedy outcome.
18/19-6: Village Litter Pick – 22 people attended and 110 bags were collected : thanks to all who helped.
18/19-7: County/District/Police matters: The Police report at 28.2.18 showed there had been no crimes in February. Cllr Wood reported that SKDC will continue with The Big Clean campaign. SK are in the process of doing a Local Plan and the draft will go to Committee in approximately one month – it is unlikely to impact on Marston. New Chief Executive is now permanent and he is looking at the Senior Management Structure which he wants to reduce from 30 to 20/25 – some have taken redundancy. Site for the cinema project has started to be cleared.
18/19-8: School Safety Zone and Highways: Cllr Maughan is still pushing for us. Potholes continue to be a problem but LCC has received extra funding to assist with this.
18/19-9: Planning:
S17/2155 – Downtown Outlet – pending consideration but amended plans have been submitted. S18/0306 – Wagtail Country Park change of use – pending consideration. Thorold Arms appeal to take place shortly.
18/19-10: Finance:
It was resolved to sign the bank reconciliation/income and expenditure account. Bank balance at year end is £10,567.16.Resolved to pay £167.84 to LALC for subscription and £150 to Village Hall for hire fees.
18/19-11: Correspondence – There is none.
18/19-12: Urgent matters for discussion – Clerk to write to organisations for reports for the APM (Chairman, PCC, Village Hall and playing field, History Society, and WI.
The Thorold Charity had 6 applicants who each got a grant.This Charity will be closed down and funds will be transferred to the Thorold Education Fund; this move should not affect anything.The new noticeboard is in place – thanks to David Pearson.The SID has to be moved around and Cllr Morley asked if someone would take over this task from him – Cllr Watson will help if another person can do it with him.
Chairman is due to have an operation later this month and will not be in attendance at May (and possibly June) meeting.Cllr Morley will Chair in his absence.Councillors were asked if anyone wishes to Chair for the ensuing year, and nobody came forward – as he will not be at the AGM Cllr Cartwright was asked if he would continue to Chair and he so agreed.
18/19-13: Date of next meeting: 3 May at 7 pm (Annual Parish Meeting, Annual General Meeting and regular meeting).
Meeting closed at 8.40 pm